He let out a slow, ragged breath. “She’s not here.”
“She?” The moment Roman’s fingers brushed his omega’s shoulder, Sidian growled at him, and he dropped his hand. “Sid, who are you—?”
A sharp cackle of laughter ripped the words from Roman’s mouth before he could finish the thought. “Who am I talking about? That’s what you’re gonna ask, right, Roman? I’m talkingabout…” Sidian trailed off, his hands clenching into tight fists. “Those fucking monsters aren’t here, and they have… They’ve got my…”
A little wheezing breath left Sidian’s lips before he crumpled inward, wrapping his arms around himself. The sharp, keening cry he made echoed through the empty house; something fluttered high above them. Bats in the attic, maybe, disturbed by the mourning sounds spilling from Sidian’s lips.
“I want my baby,” he rasped, swaying on his feet as Roman’s blood iced over. “I want my daughter.”
Sidian didn’t want Roman to touch him, but Roman couldn’t stop himself from reaching out. What was going on? What baby? What daughter? What was Sidian talking about? Roman had to touch him, had to help him. Sidian was his mate, his omega, and no matter what happened, he had to take care of Sidian. And Goddess, those noises… The last time he heard Sidian cry like that was—
Sidian darted away from his touch, turning to face him in the dusty, molded living room. “Don’t touch me. Don’t you fucking… You said they were here. Yousaid.”
“They’re supposed to be here. This was the address on their profiles. On all of them.” The address on the mailbox was the same. It was their small town. “If the information is wrong, it’s wrong, but we aren’t at the wrong house. Sidian, what were you saying about a daughter?”
Sidian laughed and raked his hands through his hair, his cheeks damp with falling tears as he paced in tight, frantic circles. “I should have known. Should have fucking known it’d blow up in my face. Why would I trust you? Why would I believe inyouof all people? If you’d just controlled yourself, I wouldn’t evenbein this place.”
The words struck something deep in Roman’s chest, flaying it open. His lips parted, but no words came to mind. Just shock. Numb, uncertain, disbelieving shock.
And then the cruel, curling flare of guilt that had never left him.Even he knows this is your fault. You were supposed to protect him. You promised.
“Sidian,” Roman tried, but Sidian cut him off again.
“You’re the reason I ended up in that place. Ended up in that…” He broke off, choking on a sob now, gripping his own arms as he paced faster and faster. “You’re the one who killed my fatherandyours, and you got to spend the last two years of your life free while I was locked up in that fucking place. Do you know what they did to me? Do you know what theydidto me?”
Roman didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t speak. The weight of Sidian’s misery threatened to choke him, phantom fingers around his neck far stronger than his own hands were.
When he took a step forward, Sidian growled at him. “Get the fuckdown.”
The wooden floor buckled under the impact of Roman’s knees, but it held. For the moment, it held.
Sidian stopped, trembling hands pressed to his face, his voice breaking on every word as his chest hitched and shuddered. “They took everything from me. They took everything I had left, and then they took Amethyst. They just…”
Amethyst. His daughter. They took his fucking daughter.Roman wanted to speak, wanted to say anything, do anything, but Sidian’s command and the horror of it all gripped him too tight.
“I want my fucking daughter back!”
Sidian screamed, the sound ripping itself out of his chest like something alive and desperate for escape. He sank to his knees, his hands, limbs shaking with the effort of holding him upright as he screamed and screamed and screamed, the noises cuttingRoman open like so many knives. Every sound of anguish tore at his soul, sinking claws and teeth into him until his vision blurred, until everything ceased to exist but Sidian. His omega, his mate, who wouldn’t let him help.
Sidian fell quiet after a moment, still sobbing, face hovering over the floor. Though it almost physically hurt to move, to push back against Sidian’s word, Roman dragged himself over to his omega until he could draw Sidian into his arms, letting him flail, letting Sidian elbow him in the gut, wincing as his face was shoved away. After a minute or two, Sidian sagged against Roman’s chest, broken noises shuddering from his lips.
“I hate you,” he whispered even as his fingers tangled in Roman’s shirt, twisting so that Roman couldn’t pry him off even if he wanted to. “I hate you so fucking much.”
“I’m sorry.” What else was there to say?
But Sidian just closed his eyes, resting his cheek against Roman’s chest as he hiccuped and whined. Try as he might, Roman couldn’t quite force a rumble to soothe his omega, but he wrapped his arms around Sidian and rocked him back and forth, hoping it would do something for him. Anything for him.
Pack Kincaid had Sidian’s daughter, and Roman did not know where they were.
What was he supposed to do?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The drive to the motel was deadly silent. The only sounds that permeated the quiet were the tires crunching over asphalt and the dual sounds of breathing. Roman’s remained steady and slow while Sidian’s hitched and trembled, not quite recovered from his breakdown in the house despite it having been a good half an hour ago.
His chest hurt. The weight of failure draped itself over his shoulders, bearing him down to the earth like nothing ever had before, threatening another round of tears as if there was anything left in him. Maybe vomit. He’d felt the burn of bile multiple times but told himself to swallow it back, to keep whatever he could down for the sake of the baby still inside him. He couldn’t risk his son too if he would never get Amethyst back after all.
White-hot rage coiled in his chest, demanding he lash out at Roman again for the sake of being able to do it. Instead, he forced himself to sit, trying to take deep breaths. Screaming at his alpha would not change anything. He could grab the wheeland jerk them off the road and into a ditch, and it still wouldn’t change a fucking thing.
